Dialogue on Paulo Freire

Ana María Araújo Freire, Paolo Vittoria

Abstract

Reflecting on education means analyzing the context in which one intends to work. Otherwise, when the context is not taken into account, education can be reduced to theoretical thinking. Real educational praxis must be linked to its social context and to the complexity of its environment. A theory cannot be a vehicle that secludes praxis, but rather an instrument of critical analysis that is embedded in our own praxis. From my point of view, one of the deepest teachings of Paulo Freire’s pedagogy is the dialectic between theory and practice. Theory without practice would be mere abstract thinking, just as practice without theory would be reduced to naive action.